The invention set forth in this specification is broadly directed towards new and improved musical instruments. In its more specific aspects this invention is concerned with toy vehicles incorporating such instruments as integral parts of such vehicles.
An understanding of the present invention does not require an extensive discussion of either prior musical instruments and/or prior toy vehicles. As civilization has progressed increasingly previously known music and/or sound producing mechanisms have been incorporated into or used in conjunction with various types of toy vehicles such as simulated railroad engines, cars, trucks and the like. Such combined structures have been mutually complementary in that the music and/or sound producing mechanisms incorporated into or used by such vehicles have made such vehicles more desirable than previously for play purposes and vice versa.
In the past such combined structures have frequently utilized percussion type devices to produce music and/or sound. They have also frequently utilized so-called "music box" mechanisms consisting of a rotatable drum or similar structure carrying projections which sequentially pluck various different teeth or reeds as the drum is rotated. While such structures have been effective for play purposes such effectiveness has tended to be limited because of tonal and/or sound considerations or because of difficulties relating to playing different musical compositions with them.
This problem of playing different musical compositions is not unique to the field of "pure" toys. Traditionally it has been relatively difficult to replace the actuating drums used to "play" different compositions within a music box and/or a related structure such as a drum organ. Further, even if such replacement has been provided for in such an instrument the storage of such drums without damage has often presented an undesirable complication or problem. A recognition of these factors has lead to the development of various different structures replacing an actuating drum with any of a plurality of different types of mechanisms.
Comparatively early in the development of music boxes such drums were replaced by flat metal disks having pins and/or projections extending from their surfaces. Normally such disks were formed so as to include a gear type mechanism for rotating them in order to actuate the teeth or reeds of a music box comb or valves of an organ structure. Disks have also been constructed so as to be perforated in such a manner as to selectively pass an air stream to any of a plurality of sound producing elements during disk rotation in order to enable an instrument to play a musical composition. While such structures are utilitarian they are considered relatively undesirable because they ave not effectively utilized both surfaces of a disk type record member in the manner in which both surfaces of a common phonograph record are used.
Perhaps it is more important that such disks have been relatively difficult to mount in an operative manner in a musical instrument so as to achieve a desired mode of consistent operation. In the toy field this latter is quite important since generally speaking children are incapable of effectivelyl utilizing even moderately complex mounting structures which hve been necessary to hold prior actuating disks in an operative manner.